Diversity in open education can be achieved by including a variety of sociological perspectives in your open content. Doing this ensures that your students can identify with and relate to your course material. Critical here is ensuring that other cultures are presented accurately in your materials, and not according to stereotypes or perceptions based on the standards of your own culture. Diversity in your open educational resource may include:

• Including a variety of pronouns and gender expressions to describe people in your text
• Using images, examples, and case studies that depict Indigenous, Black and other people of colour without perpetuating stereotypes
• Using images, examples, and case studies that depict people with disabilities, and bodies of all sizes, without perpetuating stereotypes
• Using images, examples, and case studies that depict 2SLGBTQIA+ people without perpetuating stereotypes
• Including Indigenous territories and place names in addition to, or in lieu of, colonial place names

Ethnocentrism

Whether intentional or not, ethnocentrism can creep into the content and presentation of a textbook, and it is something all authors should be aware of. This doesn’t mean you must write a book that fits every culture and perspective, only that you are respectful.

If you aren’t certain about how or where to add examples relevant to other cultures, that doesn’t mean your resource will never include these perspectives. Thanks to your OER’s open license, once your resource has been published, instructors from other countries, cultures, and socioeconomic backgrounds might choose to remix your work for their course’s needs. The changes they make might include:

• Translating the book into a different language
• Adjusting the content to meet the local cultural, regional, and geographical interests
• Revising the material for a different learning environment

Another option for making your work more inclusive from the beginning is to consider inviting instructors and professionals in your field to contribute to your OER; however, you should be aware of the ways in which your project’s design may deter or welcome people of other ethnicities, races, and cultural backgrounds (Rebus Community, “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in OER“) For example, you may have set up regular meetings for those collaborating on your project at a time that is not feasible for a scholar living in a different time zone. Keep this and other considerations in mind if you would like people from other countries to collaborate on your project.

Advancing Equity Through Open Pedagogy

Open pedagogy can be a powerful tool for letting students take control over how they engage with and relate to their course content. In some ways, engaging students in the creation of OER can be seen as the ultimate way of allowing them to see themselves reflected in their work.

However, there can be some concerns with this approach as well. For example, your student body might be composed of a majority of one race, sex, or class, making the total “picture” of the course content created by your students less inclusive overall (Maha Bali, “Critical Pedagogy: Intentions and Realities“). Here are some considerations to keep in mind when having students create course content, especially if your course is covering a topic related to sex, race, or cultural studies:

• Ask students for their input on the inclusivity of your resources
• Think about how your OER could be more diverse (pictures, examples, etc)
• Watch out for harmful depictions of diverse populations from your students and have a plan in place to address issues if they arise

Fostering an environment of inclusion where your students can engage with different cultural norms is an important aspect of the college experience, whether you are teaching Physics or Criminal Justice. Although it might be daunting to jump into creating an inclusive educational resource, keep in mind that OER can be improved upon and continually revisited by yourself and others.

Start by finding or creating an OER that works for you and avoiding pitfalls like ethnocentric and exclusionary language. You can always revisit your chosen OER or work with others to improve upon it by adding more diverse examples later on.